Class Notes
1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's 2000's 2010's
’60s
Alex Delbene of Girard, 1960, BE, Education, was featured in an article in the Warren Tribune Chronicle about meeting with Pope Pius XII more than 60 years ago. Delbene, drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950, was in Italy, went to the Vatican, asked for an audience with the pope and was turned away. Undeterred, he noticed a group of officers headed toward the area where the pope received visitors, got in line, was escorted inside, met the pope and kissed his papal ring. “It was the greatest feeling of my life,” Delbene said in the article. He later returned to Girard and attended YSU, earning a bachelor’s degree in Education. He worked in Bloomfield, Hubbard and Girard schools during 25 years, retiring in 1982.
Paul Dutton of Liberty, 1969, BA, Political Science, a partner with the Youngstown-based law firm Harrington, Hoppe & Mitchell, Ltd., is chair of Akron Children’s Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. Dutton has served on the foundation board since 2011 and on the Akron Children’s Hospital board since 2017. Dutton, who holds a law degree from Case Western Reserve University, also serves as solicitor to the Village of Lordstown and as general counsel to the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. He also is an adjunct instructor at YSU.
’70s
Kathylynn Feld and her husband, Philip “Skip” A. Feld, enjoy showing their Penguin Pride when they sail their 24-foot Shark sailboat with its Pete the Penguin spinnaker on Pymatuning Dam Lake in Jamestown, Pa. Kathylynn, 1971, BS, Health Education, is a registered nurse and a YSU professor emeritus. She was director of the Medical Assisting Technology Program for 35 years and also taught in the Allied Health and Nursing programs. Philip, 1979, AAS, and 1981, BA, both in Electrical Engineering Technology, is retired from a career as an electrical design engineer. They live in Mt. Jackson, Pa
Troyan Tecau of Brooklyn, NY, 1974, BFA, displayed his art in an exhibit at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown this spring. A Youngstown native, Tecau currently teaches at the Kingsborough campus of the City University of New York.
R. Scott Krichbaum of Boardman, 1975, BSBA, Marketing, a judge on the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas, received a certificate of appreciation from the Supreme Court of Ohio for 20 years of service on the Board of Bar Examiners. Krichbaum was first appointed to the board in 1998. The panel is responsible for writing, administering and grading the bar exam for prospective lawyers in Ohio.
Tod Benton of Spring, Texas, 1979, BE, Civil Engineering, has been named to the board of directors for Resolute Energy Corp., an independent, publicly-held oil and gas company. Benton previously served as vice chair for the Energy Group of BMO Capital Markets, retiring in July 2017, and before that he was head of Energy Investment Banking in the United States for BMO Capital Markets. In addition to his YSU degree, he earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Houston.
’80s
Jim Imler of Lincoln, Neb., 1980, MBA, Management, is the new director of Human Resources at Clarinda Regional Health Center in Iowa. Imler began his HR career in 1990 with United Community Hospital in Grove City, Pa., and most recently served as president of his own HR consulting service company, JRI Services Inc. in Lincoln.
The late George “Skip” Seese, DO, of Dalton, Ohio, 1980, BS, Biology, has had a scholarship created in his name at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. Seese was a 1987 graduate of the College, a former member of the College’s clinical faculty and served as a cardiologist for 25 years. The scholarship was created by his former colleagues at Affinity Medical Center in Massillon, Ohio.
John A. Antal, Jr. of Aberdeen, Md., 1982, BE, Chemical Engineering, was inducted into the Military Packaging Hall of Fame, overseen by the Department of Defense and the National Institute of Packaging, Handling and Logistics Engineers. Antal has worked for the School of Military Packaging Technology and the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland for more than 35 years as a packaging engineer and lead packaging specialist.
Shari Carlozzi of Canfield, 1982, BSE, Speech Communication, national sales manager for Hapco Inc. Roofing Division in Kent, is the 2018 chair of the National Women in Roofing, an organization that supports the advancement of women in the roofing industry. Carlozzi is a founding member and Hapco is one of its founding sponsors. Carlozzi serves on the boards of the Youngstown Peace Race, the Youngstown Symphony Guild and Junior Women’s League of Canfield.
Jacquelyn H. Wolf of Indianapolis, Ind., 1984, BA, Organizational Communications, was appointed executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Anthem Inc. and will serve as a member of the company’s executive leadership team. Previously, she was senior vice president and chief HR officer for LyondellBasel, one of the largest plastics and refining companies in the world, and before that she held a progression of leadership positions in human resources. Wolf also earned an MBA from Baker University in Kansas, an MA and a doctorate, both in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, Calif.
Ed Cvelbar of Salem, 1985, BS, Electrical Engineering, has joined GEM Energy as a senior business development manager, based in Rudolph Libbe Group’s North Ridgeville office. Cvelbar has more than 20 years of industry experience, including positions with ENGIE Services (formerly OpTerra Energy Services), Johnson Controls and AEP Ohio. He is a Certified Energy Manager through the Association of Energy Engineers.
After nearly 772 games as skipper of the Twinsburg (Ohio) High School baseball team, Don Jones is hanging up the spikes. A native of Brookfield who graduated from YSU in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in Education, Jones, 55, retired this past summer as a social studies teacher and head baseball coach. In an illustrious 31-year career on the diamond, Jones posted a 427-295 record, won seven league titles, three district championships and two regional titles, including runs to the state final four in 1990 and 2006. He’s a member of the Northeast Ohio Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Denise Harlan of Canfield, 1987, BSBA, Accounting, was appointed to the Salem Regional Medical Center Board of Directors. A CPA, she is a principal at Schroedel, Scullin and Bestic LLC in Canfield and has more than 26 years of public accounting experience. Her professional expertise includes consulting, financial and tax services, employee benefit plan audits and mergers and acquisitions.
Bill Salmon of Metuchen, N.J., 1987, BSA, School of Technology, BE, Engineering, has been named a principal and vice president of PS&S, a design and engineering firm based in Warren, N.J. Salmon joined PS&S in April 2015 as a senior director of land development to spearhead the enhanced presence for civil engineering and land development in the Monmouth and Ocean county regions. He is a native of Edison, Ohio, and has provided expert testimony with municipal and zoning boards.
Deanne Morell of Mansfield, Ohio, 1987, BSBA, Marketing Management, has been promoted to assistant vice president, assistant to the president, at Mechanics Bank. Morell joined Mechanics in 2013 and has served as a customer service representative and executive assistant. She also is the recipient of the James A. Courtney Award, presented to Mechanics employees who best exemplify the company’s mission.
Angeline Centofanti of Poland, 1989, BSBA, and 1997, MBA in Accounting, has been appointed chief financial officer of Lencyk Masonry Co., Boardman. Centofanti began her accounting career in 1990 at The Bishara Co. and joined Lencyk in 2005.
Guy Coviello of Liberty, 1989, AB, was appointed to the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission by Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Coviello is vice president of government affairs for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber. He also serves on the Tri-State Shale Coalition’s Transportation and Infrastructure Working Group. Coviello previously was editor of the Tribune Chronicle in Warren.
Gayle Myrta of Annapolis and Ocean City, Md., 1989, BA, Geography, recently retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C., after 21 years. Myrta was an intelligence analyst in the defense industry and resource division involved in analysis of the manufacturing of foreign weapon systems. She also holds a master’s degree in Geography from Towson University.
’90s
Andre Smith of Youngstown, 1997, BS, Education, is the new coordinator of athletic programs and recruitment and head basketball coach at Penn State Shenango in Sharon, Pa. Smith is a former YSU basketball standout and assistant basketball coach. He previously was athletic director and head basketball coach at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio.
Robert Hamer of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 1998, BS, Business Administration, has joined Vista Window Co. as the plant human resources and safety manager for both the Lordstown and Warren plants.
2000's
Steven Little of Allison Park, Pa., 2000, BE in Chemical Engineering, is the recipient of the 2018 Young Investigator Award from the Controlled Release Society. The honor annually recognizes one individual in the world, 40 years of age or younger, for outstanding contributions in the science of controlled release. Little is the William Kepler Whiteford Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering.
Jaime Yohman of Girard, 2000, BSBA, Advertising/Public Relations, has been promoted to community engagement director of Mill Creek MetroParks. Yohman leads advertising, social media, volunteer and public relations efforts at the park. She previously was marketing coordinator at Hollywood Gaming in Austintown and the marketing and advertising specialist at Gem-Young Insurance & Financial Services Inc. in Canfield.
Aaron Bero of Pasadena, Calif., 2001, BS, Business Administration, was recently promoted to director of Patient Care Services for the Southern California region of Kaiser Permanente, overseeing strategic initiatives that drive improvements in affordability, quality and safety within patient care services.
Brad M. Evans of Mogadore, Ohio, 2001, BSAS, Criminal Justice, is an Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper. He was promoted to sergeant and assigned as an assistant commander at the Hiram Post. He began his career in 2004 as a member of the 142nd academy class. He earned his commission in November of that year and was assigned to the Bucyrus Post. As a trooper, he earned the Criminal Patrol Award twice and also served at the Canton Post.
Ryan Ghizzoni of Austintown, 2002, BSBA, Accounting, is the new treasurer of the Austintown Local Schools. Ghizzoni began his career with the Auditor of State’s Office and has served as a school district treasurer for 15 years, including the Berea City School District, Stow Munroe Falls City School District, the Lorain City School District and the Fairview Park City School District. He also is president of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials and chairs the ASBO Meritorious Budget Award Advisory Committee. He has been the recipient of nine ASBO Meritorious Budget Awards and was the recipient of the Ohio ASBO 2011 Outstanding Treasurer of the Year Award.
Gina Vicarel of Poland, 2005, BSBA in General Administration, has joined Home Savings as recruitment administrator. Vicarel has more than 10 years of recruiting experience. Before joining Home Savings, she was a staffing/HR consultant for an employment and recruitment agency. She is an active member of the Youngstown Business and Professional Women’s Club.
Kevin Sturdevant of Oakland, Calif., 2004, BA, English, has been named vice president of Business Operations of Transcriptic, the developer of the first robotic cloud laboratory platform. Sturdevant has broad operational experience and in prior roles has been responsible for product development, SaaS integrations, and building cross-functional, client-facing teams. Prior to joining Transcriptic, he was vice president of Professional Services with Captricity and head of Product and Operations at Pykl Studios. Sturdevant also worked as a product manager/systems analyst at Franklin University for several years.
Karen M. Schubert of Youngstown, 2005, BA, Professional Writing and Editing, 2007, MA, English, is the founding director of Lit Youngstown, a literary arts nonprofit that hosts readings, writing workshops, book discussions and day-long literary conferences. An award-winning poet and frequent reader and presenter at conferences and other events, Schubert was recently named coordinator of Power of the Arts, a collaborative effort to involve the arts and cultural communities in the economic development and revitalization of the Mahoning Valley. She also holds an MFA from the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts through Cleveland State University.
Jessie Wright of Poland, 2005, BSBA, and 2006, MBA, Accounting, a supervisor with Canfield-based Schroedel, Scullin & Bestic, CPAs, has been nominated as a director on the executive board of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Wright, a certified public accountant, also holds the designations of certified valuation analyst and certified global management accounting. She is an adjunct faculty member at YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration. She served as chair of OSCPA’s Young CPA program in Youngstown for two years, and then as the statewide chair of the society’s Young CPA Leadership Boards. She was a member of the 2017 Class of the American Institute of CPA’s Leadership Academy.
Amanda Caldwell has taken her swimming talents to Georgia. Caldwell, of Statesboro, Ga., 2006, BS, Exercise Science, is the new head women’s swimming and diving coach at Georgia Southern University. A four-year letter-winner at YSU, Caldwell previously coached for six seasons at Rice University, where her team captured three Conference USA titles and the 2014 Collegiate Swimming Coaches of America Invitational Championship award.
Gary DiLisio of Youngstown, 2007, BSEd, Middle School Education, and 2010, MSEd, Counseling, was recently promoted to principal academic advisor in Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon University. He joined the school ‘s Dietrich College Academic Advisory Center in 2009, starting out as an advisor of students who had not yet declared a major.
Melanie D. Cann of Niles, 2008, BS, Business Administration, and 2014, MBA, is vice president of Human Resources for the Cafaro Company and has been actively involved in YSU’s Business 2020 program. In 2015 she received the Williamson College of Business Administration’s Outstanding Recent Alumni Award and was a “25 Under 35” nominee in 2012 and 2013. She also was recognized as a member of 2018 Penguin Women on the Move by the YSU Alumni Society and Women and Gender Studies Program.
Kelly M. Noyes of Pittsburgh, Pa., 2008, BA, Journalism, is a senior analyst for the Bank of New York Mellon in Pittsburgh and in 2017 was awarded a BNY Mellon award as a Diversity and Inclusion Champion. She volunteers with the Sounds of Pittsburgh Chorus, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Center for Organ Recovery and Education. Last year she became an organ donor. This spring, she was recognized as a member of 2018 Penguin Women on the Move by the YSU Alumni Society and Women and Gender Studies Program.
Andrew Erb of West Middlesex, Pa., 2008, MM, Trumpet Performance, is the new band director at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa. He previously was at Thiel College, Greenville, Pa., where he was director of bands and chair of the Performing Arts Department. In 2010, Erb founded Thiel’s marching band. He previously served as band director at Riverview High School, Oakmont, Pa., and Sharpsville Area High School.
2010's
Brian Harris of Lilly, Pa., 2010, MA, Music Performance, is the new director of bands at Thiel College in Greenville, Pa. He will direct the college’s Tomcat Marching Pride and its Concert Band. Harris was previously at Shenandoah University Conservatory of Music in Winchester, Va., where he was the assistant concert band director. He also holds a BS in Music Education and is pursuing a doctorate in musical arts performance at Shenandoah University.
Sean Satterlee of Youngstown, 2010, BS, Biology and Philosophy, and 2012, MS, Biology, was named a Woodrow Wilson Georgia Teaching Fellow for 2018. The highly competitive program recruits individuals with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and prepares them specifically to teach in high-need secondary schools. Each fellow receives $30,000 to complete a specially designed master’s degree program based on a year-long classroom experience. In return, fellows commit to teach for three years in the urban and rural Georgia schools that most need strong STEM teachers.
Sam Blakeslee of New York, NY, 2011, BM, Jazz Studies, was awarded the David Baker Prize in the Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s “Bridges, an International Jazz and Classical Fusion Composition Competition.” He was one of three composers from across the nation to win the honor. Blakeslee also earned an MM in Classical Performance from the University of Akron. He taught Jazz Trombone at YSU and at Cuyahoga Community College and has performed in jazz festivals around the world.
Dan Buckler and Pat Maple, both 2012 graduates with master’s degrees in Environmental Studies, recently released the third issue of HAZWOPER, a comic book that follows the adventures of a superhero vigilante who, as their website says, “has no problem getting his hands bloody to make the Earth clean.” The comic book launched in 2016. Buckler is a forester living in Wisconsin, while Maple is an environmental engineer in Ohio.
Kelly Mehalco of New York, NY, 2012, BSAS, Fashion Merchandising, was promoted from assistant buyer to head buyer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum’s retail division.
Rayshone Oliver of Boardman, 2012, BS, Biology, presented “YouTube Your Way to Success” at Kravitz Deli in Liberty Township as part of the Youngstown SCORE Bagels to Business program. Oliver’s online business, Weave N Luxury, expresses her passion for hair, which led her to starting #BeUtify, a YouTube channel interviewing entrepreneurs.
Brandi Simone Brown of East Lansing, Mich., 2013, BA, Communication Studies, is serving as campus minister at Michigan State University through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She was a record-breaking basketball player while a student at YSU and in 2013 was named Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and first team Academic All-American. After graduation, she played on professional basketball teams in Sweden and Australia, and she was recognized this spring as a member of 2018 Penguin Women on the Move by the YSU Alumni Society and Women and Gender Studies Program.
Christina Denham of Canfield, 2013, BSBA, and 2014, MBA, Accounting, is the new account manager at Cassidy Advertising and Consulting in Canfield, Ohio. She previously was regional marketing director, responsible for the strategic coordination and implementation of all marketing and digital efforts for multiple shopping centers across the country.
Amy Teeters of Youngstown, 2014, associate degree, Early Childhood Education, is the new director of the Austintown Community Church Preschool Childcare Center. She served nine years as a lead teacher at the school. She is a Navy veteran and served as a radio operator (communications) from 1989 to 1993.
Brittany A. Bobovnyik of Boardman, 2014, BS, Biology, received a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. A 2011 graduate of Canfield High School, Dr. Bobovnyik will begin a residency in family medicine at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital.
Jared Kitt of North Lima, 2015, BS, Mathematics Education, was sworn in as a full-time firefighter in the Struthers Fire Department. Kitt began working with Springfield Township Fire Department as a volunteer in 2010, and since then has worked with the Beaver Township Fire Department, Rural/Metro Ambulance Service and St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.
Kalisha Green of Campbell, 2016, BFA, was promoted to graphic and interactive designer/account executive at the Prodigal Co. in Boardman. Green began working with the full-service branding, marketing and digital agency in June 2017 as a freelance designer.
Brogan Todd of Canfield, 2016, BS, Early Child Education, was named Youngstown City School District Teacher of the Year. Todd taught kindergarten at Volney Rogers Elementary School; he previously taught at Paul C. Bunn Elementary School.
Bailey Yoder of Canfield, 2017, MA in History, is the new curator of football heritage at the Massillon Museum and is leading the charge for putting together the new Paul Brown Museum and Archive. While at YSU, Yoder served internships at the Niles McKinley Birthplace Museum and the Youngstown History Center of Industry and Labor.